Brenyn del Shadshier
Brenyn del Shadshier is a 14-year-old thief, living in the Southern District of Allisett. Having been taken in by the head of the city's thieves' guild, orphanage head Shadshier del Kallakh, Brenyn was trained in all manner of deception. But his particular skill, his calling, is his ability to cultivate entire personalities, making it nearly impossible to understand him. This is likely because he doesn't really have a personality of his own. Appearance Brenyn is petite, short for his age, and has a uniquely "pretty" face. Combined with his longer-than-normal curly red hair, this has earned him the nickname "Baby Sister" amongst his brothers and sisters in Shadshier's guild. Brenyn's brown eyes are deceptively warm, and vibrant. To the uninitiated, he seems like any other well-intentioned boy striving to make the best of a bad situation. He uses this to his advantage, and has been known to dress up very specifically for each new job. Everything about Brenyn's appearance is part of a costume. Personality Although no one in Avorah would necessarily know this word, Brenyn is a tried-and-true sociopath. He has no particular bonds with anyone, and only engages with people when they interest him, which usually isn't often and doesn't last for long. He can be sweet, charming, vulnerable; he can be bright, even a genius; and he can be dangerous. There is no particular trigger for which of his various faces he might wear on a given day, in response to a given situation. The only universal truth is that he hates to have anything—jewelry, clothing, a human hand—touching his neck. He wears low-necked shirts (or no shirt at all) to avoid the sensation. This is a response to personal trauma, and is the only way to ever elicit fear—sick, primal, animalistic terror—out of this steely-eyed street urchin. He does not understand this phobia, but it has informed his personal weapon of choice: the garrote. In whatever swamp-fire that serves him for a subconscious, Brenyn has determined that what frightens him must frighten others. History Brenyn was born to an unnamed and unglamorous prostitute working out of Allisett's South District, and never earned much in the way of attention as a boy. Some of his mother's customers expressed the sort of attention he most certainly wouldn't have wanted, but she always refused. She may have been in a profession not known for its honor, but it was a mistake to think that she was without principles. No one was surprised when one more prostitute met her death at the hands of an angry drunk. Only one person, however, took an interest in her orphan. Shadshier del Kallakh took young Brenyn is as his own. His orphanage, which was a mask for the thieves' guild that it truly was, was the perfect place for the boy. From Shadshier, Brenyn learned to survive. He learned to hide, to steal, to lie, to cheat. All the skills necessary to live outside the law. Brenyn became the sort of student that all veteran criminals eventually learn to fear. Brenyn was studious, far more so than anyone would have expected considering his tendency to get bored. Brenyn has since become Shadshier's most prized pet. Living as he does, Brenyn has no use for baubles, gold, or silver. He requires no cut of the treasures that he brings back home; only food and a bed, and even then only sometimes. Brenyn has been known to starve himself, or deliberately sleep on the streets, so as to make a better performance. He is a con artist, a burglar, and rumors abound that he has followed in his mother's footsteps if necessary. There is no job that he will not take on, so long as it's interesting. As a result, he is often chosen over even the most illustrious of Shadshier's adult agents. This has earned Brenyn no shortage of enemies. Affiliations Brenyn has no affiliations. Even his devotion to his adoptive sire, from whom he takes his family name (his full name is taken from the eastern tradition of Shadshier's homeland: "Brenyn son of Shadshier"), is a mask. He changes allegiances as often as he changes shirts.